For this we honor and eulogize him; not for wealth, title, fortune, those miserable outsides and trappings of humanity, but for the qualities of the inner man, which still live, and will live for ever. He studied the stars on the earth-may he not now be tracking their courses through the heavens? Long ere this, perhaps, he knows all the beauties and the mysteries of their tangled mazes-has examined the rings of Saturn and the belts of Jupiter, traversed the milky way, and chased the comet through infinity. Methinks I hear his departing and ascending spirit exclaiming, as it wings its flight upwards, in the language of the beautiful hymn:

"Ye golden lamps of heaven! farewell,

With all your feeble light:
Farewell, thou ever-changing moon,

Pale empress of the night!

And thou, refulgent orb of day!

In brighter flames arrayed,

My soul, which springs beyond thy sphere,

No more demands thine aid.

Ye stars are but the shining dust

Of my divine abode,

The pavement of those heavenly courts,
Where I shall reign with God.

The Father of eternal light

Shall there his beams display;

Nor shall one moment's darkness mix

With that unvaried day.

"Many shall commend his understanding; and so

long as the world endureth, it shall not be blotted out. His memorial shall not depart away, and his name shall live from generation to generation."

APPENDIX.

Some idea of the sensation produced in this community by the decease of Dr. BOWDITCH, may be gathered from the following proceedings of various public bodies, with which he was connected.

THE AMERICAN ACADEMY.

At a special meeting of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, held March 20th, 1838, the following Resolves were presented by his Excellency Edward Everett, and adopted unanimously by the Fellows of the Academy:

Whereas it has pleased Divine Providence to remove from this life NATHANIEL BOWDITCH, President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Fellows of the Academy, at a special meeting called for the purpose of taking due notice of this melancholy event, unanimously adopt the following resolutions, expressive of their feelings on this sorrowful occasion:

Resolved, That the Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences entertain the liveliest sense of the exalted talents and extraordinary attainments of their late President, who stood preeminent among the men of science in the United States, and who, by universal consent, has long been regarded as one of the most distinguished mathematicians and astronomers of the age; that we consider his reputation as one of the most precious treasures of our common country; that we deeply deplore his loss in the fullness of his intellectual power; and that we esteem it our sacred duty to cherish his memory.

Resolved, That in addition to the loss which they have sustained, as members of this scientific body, in being deprived of their distinguished associate and head, whose name has for many years conferred honor on their institution, and whose communications

are among the most valuable contents of the volumes of the Academy's Memoirs, the Fellows of the Academy, as members of the community, lament the loss of a friend and fellow-citizen, whose services were of the highest value in the active walks of life;-whose entire influence was given to the cause of good principles;-whose life was a uniform exhibition of the loftiest virtues; and who, with a firmness and energy which nothing could shake or subdue, devoted himself to the most arduous and important duties, and made the profoundest researches of science subservient to the practical business of life.

Resolved, That the Fellows of the Academy deeply sympathize with the family of their late President in the loss of a faithful, affectionate, and revered parent, and that the officers of the Academy be requested to address to them a letter of respectful condolence.

Resolved, That the officers of the Academy be a committee to procure a bust in marble of the late President, to be placed in the hall of the Academy, and to adopt and carry into execution such other measures as they may deem expedient, in honor of the memory of one, who among living men of science has left few equals.

Resolved, That an attested copy of these resolutions be transmitted by the Corresponding Secretary to the family of the deceased, and to the various learned Societies in Europe and America of which he was a member, and that they be furnished for publication in the papers of the city. A true copy of record.-Attest,

DANIEL TREADwell,

Recording Secretary.

Boston, March 21, 1838.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

At a special meeting of the President and Fellows of Harvard College, held on the 20th of March, 1838, the following preamble and votes were unanimously adopted :

This Board having been informed of the death, on the 16th

instant, of the Hon. NATHANIEL BOWDITCH, LL. D., a Fellow of this College, it was thereupon unanimously

Voted, That this Corporation, in common with the friends of science and religion, in this and every land, in which his attainments and virtues were known, lament the loss the world has sustained by the death of one, not more eminent as a philosopher, than honored as a citizen, and beloved as a man; who fulfilled the duties of a public and private life with an assiduity, an exactness, a fidelity and a felicity seldom equalled, and never excelled; and who, by combining great simplicity of manners and singleness of purpose, with an integrity, through life, without blemish and without stain, so acquired the confidence of his contemporaries, as to be regarded as the pillar and pride of every Society of which he was an active member; the effects of which never failed to be seen and acknowledged in its prosperity and success.

This Corporation, in common with all others which have been blessed with his counsels and labors, deem it peculiarly their duty distinctly and gratefully to acknowledge the benefits Harvard College has derived from the extraordinary endowments he possessed, and by which, in the exercise of his characteristic zeal, intelligence and faithfulness, he ever sustained and advanced al its interests.

Voted, That the President be requested to communicate this vote to the family of Dr. Bowditch.

True extract from the records.-Attest,

(Signed)

JAMES WALKER,

Secretary of the Corporation.

YALE COLLEGE.

At a meeting of the President, Professors and Tutors of Yale College, the following resolutions were adopted :

Resolved, That this faculty have heard, with deep concern, of the death of the Hon. NATHANIEL BOWDITCH, late of Boston; and that this painful event has bereaved not only his family, but his country and mankind; especially as he was cut off in the vigor of his faculties, in the maturity of his fame, and in the full course of his usefulness.